Once branded ‘almost impossible’, Saudi Arabia’s super-city project is underway.
The mega $1 trillion (£791.63 billion) ‘The Line’ is due to be completed in 2030 and almost sounds like something out of Black Mirror.
And new aerial photos of the project show the incredible scale of the Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman’s futuristic megacity.
Take a look at the awe-inspiring shots in the vid below:
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In case you’ve not heard of The Line (or didn’t think it was actually real), it’s a 105-mile-long city entirely made up of two parallel skyscrapers.
Yeah, essentially an enormous, mirrored building lying on its side in the desert.
Like I said, Black Mirror.
At 200m wide, it’s hoped to be able to house nine million people when it’s completed and will have everything possibly needed to support urban life.
It's actually set to be bigger than four countries: Vatican City, Monaco, Nauru and Tuvalu.
Sounding a little similar to that huge building in China where people never need to leave, The Line will reportedly have all sorts from parks to flying taxis.
It’s even said there are plans to install an artificial moon for people to look up at.
A high-speed train service will connect the sections of this long, self-sufficient city that Saudi Arabian officials claim will be powered by clean energy.
Pretty unsurprisingly, there’s been a fair few challenges said to have hit The Line along the way and pictures have now revealed the sheer scale of it.
Chief Operating Office for The Line, Giles Pendleton wrote on LinkedIn: “How to answer the naysayers about the incredible work being done in NEOM?
"Show a cross section of the world's largest building site from the mountains to the sea.”
Photos which look as though they’ve been snapped via a drone or helicopter show the complex building site and just how enormous it will be once completed.
READ MORE:
INSIDE FLAT FROM BLACK MIRROR-STYLE BUILDING
ISLAND WITH 4000 SNAKES WHERE HUMANS CAN'T VISIT
It really is vast, and in the pictures you can see the humungous building site starting to take shape.
The project has been described as a 'vertical garden city', and the idea is that all amenities will be within a five minute walk for residents.
Speaking in July 2022, the Crown Prince spoke about his plans for the city and running it on ‘100 percent renewable energy’.
He explained: “We cannot ignore the liveability and environmental crises facing our world’s cities, and NEOM is at the forefront of delivering new and imaginative solutions to address these issues.
“NEOM is leading a team of the brightest minds in architecture, engineering and construction to make the idea of building upwards a reality.
“The city's vertically layered communities will challenge the traditional flat, horizontal cities.
"The designs of The Line embody how urban communities will be in the future in an environment free from roads, cars and emissions."
Yep, a big, shiny, vertically-layered city in the desert. Can I say Black Mirror again?
Topics: World News, Technology
Jess Battison